Asaram claims he is innocent, draws comparison with Buddha

Ahmedabad: Controversial spiritual guru Asaram, accused of sexually assaulting a minor girl in Jodhpur, claimed he was innocent and alleged a conspiracy was afoot against him. He further said even the great Buddha had faced such ordeals.

"I am innocent. The girl has been misguided by someone. Sooner or later, she and her family will realize this and will come to me," Asaram said.

"It is a conspiracy. I know who are behind this, but I don't want to name them," he told a Gujarati news-channel.

Parents of the teenage girl filed a complaint against Asaram at Kamla Market police station in Delhi on August 20, alleging he had sexually assaulted her during the time they were visiting Asaram's Jodhpur `Ashram'.

"Lord Buddha too had faced such kind of allegations and I am also facing the same. But the truth will come out. I am appealing my followers to keep calm, have patience and to ensure no harm is done to the family of this girl," he said.

Asaram also said "even if they put me behind the bars, I am willing to go to jail with a smiling face. And I think I want to spend some time in Tihar jail. I consider jail as myVaikunth (heaven)."

Asaram had come under heavy criticism earlier this year after he said the victim of gang-rape in Delhi would have escaped the ordeal had she called her attacker brothers and pleaded for mercy.

The controversial godman is also facing probe in connection with mysterious death of two teenaged boys who were studying at his Gurukul (residential school) in Ahmedabad.

Asaram Bapu's supporters demonstrate

Scores of supporters of Asaram Bapu staged a protest at Kamla Market police station in the national capital on Friday demanding quashing of the FIR filed against him.

"The protesters, who were shouting slogans against police and the media, later marched towards Jantar Mantar where they damaged the OB van of a Hindi news channel and thrashed one of its crew members," said a police official.

The protesters gathered at the police station in Central Delhi at around 10 AM raising slogans and carrying placards accusing the police and the media of tarnishing the 74-year-old self-styled godman's image, police said.

The OB van of the Hindi news channel was attacked near Parliament Street police station, a crew member of the OB van was beaten up, police said adding three protesters were detained in the case.

After the medical report of the girl confirmed assault, Delhi Police registered a case which was later transferred to Jodhpur as the alleged crime had taken place there. However, a spokesperson of Asaram Bapu's Ashram rubbished the charge.Rape allegations against Asaram is a Congress conspiracy: BJP

After BJP leader Uma Bharti, BJP Vice President Prabhat Jha also defended Asaram Bapu, terming rape charges against him as a "Congress conspiracy".

He said that as polls approach, Congress party gets upset and indulges in all sorts of political conspiracies against its opponents. Asaram Bapu has a large number of followers and these kind of allegations have hurt them deeply.

Answering a question about Union Minister of State for Power (Independent Charge) Jyotiraditya Scindia, he said that he is confined to a particular region of Madhya Pradesh only and is not considered as a mass leader.

Scindia never participated in any people's movement not he had he ever gone to jail for taking part in any such event. He challenged Scindia to prove himself by contesting polls from any other seat other than Guna and Gwalior.

Jha said that the ongoing Janashirwad Yatra of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has turned into a people's movement and has left behind even senior BJP leader LK Advani's 'rath yatra'.

The BJP leader compared its popularity with famous television serials like Mahabharat and Ramayana.